New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead showed guts during, and sportsmanship after, Sunday’s NFC playoff game against the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Morstead tore cartilage on the right side of his ribs during the first half of the game but continued playing and was the first to come back onto the field for the extra-point attempt after Case Keenum connected with Stefon Diggs on a 61-yard game-winning touchdown.

That resonated with many Vikings fans, prompting them to donate to his charity, What You Give Will Grow, an organization that focuses on pediatric cancer.

As of Friday afternoon, nearly 5,500 people from across the U.S. had donated more than $221,000.

After the Vikings’ 29-24 victory, a Vikings fan started a Reddit post on Tuesday asking fans to support Morstead.

When the foundation started receiving “a flood of donations,” Morstead said he would give the money to Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota for its child life program, which provides emotional support and activities for children and families.

“Blown away at the generosity of complete strangers,” Morstead posted on Twitter. “All the donations we have received and will receive through the end of this week will be donated back to Children’s Hospital in Minnesota.”

When the amount raised reached $25,000, Morstead tweeted that he would “fly up to Minneapolis week of the Super Bowl to personally do a check presentation with @childrensmn if we get to $100K.”

On Wednesday, Morstead was making plans to return to Minnesota during Super Bowl week to present a check.

“Hi Minnesota, you guys are officially ridiculous,” he said in a video posted on the charity’s website and through his Twitter account. … “100,000 … that’s just … that’s incredible. So you guys should all be proud of yourselves. That’s a group effort, and it’s going to affect everybody in your community in a positive way. And I’m just totally humbled by this.

“And I may be forced to root for you guys all the way through the Super Bowl now. So, just totally blown away. Thank you very much.”

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